The Ruling on Salaam
http://www.darultawhid.com/en/forum/index.php?topic=2244.0
What is makrooh is for the one who is initiating the greeting to say “ ‘Alayk
al-salaam” or “ ‘Alaykum al-salaam,” because this is the greeting given to the
dead as RasulAllah (saw) said.
Abu Jurayy al-Hujaymi (ra) said: I came to RasulAllah (saw) and said:“
‘Alayka’l-salaam (upon you be peace), O RasulAllah.” He said, “Do not say ‘
‘Alayka’l-salaam’, for ‘Alayka’l-salaam’ is the greeting of the dead.” (Abu
Dawud; Tirmidhi with a sahih chain)
What is meant by RasulAllah’s words “‘Alayka’l-salaam’ is the greeting of the
dead” is the fact that many poets and others greeted the dead in this manner.
Moreover the Sunnah of RasulAllah (saw) is to greet the dead in the same manner
as he greeted the living, by saying “Al-salaamu ‘alaykum.”
Ibn al-Qayyim (rh) said, explaining that: His greeting, when he was initiating
the greeting, was to say, “Al-salaamu ‘alaykum wa rahmat-Allah” He did not like
the initiator to say “‘Alayka’l-salaam.” Abu’l-Jurayy al-Hujaymi said: I came
to RasulAllah (saw) and said: “ ‘Alayka’l-salaam (upon you be peace), O
RasulAllah.” He said, “Do not say ‘ ‘Alayka’l-salaam’, for ‘Alayka’l-salaam’ is
the greeting of the dead.” A sahih hadeeth.
This hadeeth confused some people, who thought that it contradicted what was
narrated from RasulAllah (saw) about greeting the dead by saying, “Al-salaamu
‘alaykum,” saying the word salaam first. They thought that his words,
“‘Alayka’l-salaam’ is the greeting of the dead” was describing what is
prescribed, but that is a mistake which led them to think that there was a
contradiction. Rather what is meant by the words “‘Alayka’l-salaam’ is the
greeting of the dead” is a statement of something that used to happen, not
something that was prescribed, namely that the poets and others used to greet
the dead in this manner, and he did not like the greeting commonly used for the
dead to become widespread. (Zaad al-Ma’aad, 2/383)
Conditions under which salaam is discouraged
There are certain situations under which it is preferable not to offer salaam.
These include; when a person is relieving himself, when one is having marital
relationship, when someone is sleeping or when in the bathroom.
Offering salaam when someone is reciting the Qur'an is permissible but
discouraged. The same rule applies to someone who is making du'a (supplication)
or one who is praying.
It is narrated in a hadith that Abdullah ibn Umar (ra) said: "I asked Bilal:
How did Allah's Apostle respond to them as they greeted him while he was in
prayer? Thereupon he said: He only made a gesture with his hands (in order to
respond to the greeting). (Tirmidhi)
Narrated from Abdullah ibn Umar (ra) that he said: The Apostle of Allah went
to Quba to offer prayer. Then the Ansar (the Helpers) came to him and gave him
a salutation while he was engaged in prayer. I asked Bilal: How did you find
the Apostle of Allah responding to them when they gave him a salutation while
he was engaged in prayer. He replied: In this way, and Ja'far ibn Awn
demonstrated by spreading his palm, and keeping its inner side below and its
back side above." (Aboo Dawud)
Narrated from Abdullah ibn Mas'ud (ra) said: "We used to salute during prayer
and talk about our needs. I came to the RasulAllah (saw) and found him praying.
I saluted him, but he did not respond to me. I recalled what happened to me in
the past and in the present. When RasulAllah (saw) finished his prayer, he said
to me: Allah (awj) creates new command as He wishes, and Allah, the Exalted,
has sent a fresh command that you must not talk during prayer. He then returned
my salutation." (Aboo Dawud)
It is related in the sahihayn that Ibn Mas'ud (ra) reports: "We used to greet
RasulAllah while he was in salah and he would respond to our greeting. When we
returned from Abyssinia, we greeted him [during prayer] but he did not respond
to our salutation. We said to him: 'O RasulAllah, we used to greet you while
you were in salah and you used to respond to us!' He then said: 'Prayer
demands one's complete attention.'" (Bukhari; Muslim)
It is narrated from Mahajir ibn Qunfudh: Muhajir came to RasulAllah (saw) while
he was urinating. He saluted him. RasulAllah (saw) did not return the
salutation to him until he performed ablution. He then apologised to him,
saying: I disliked remembering Allah except in the state of purification."
(Aboo Dawud)
In another narration it is stated that Abdullah ibn Umar (ra) said: "A person
happened to pass by RasulAllah (saw) when he was making water and saluted him,
but he did not respond to his salutation." (Muslim)
Narrated from Abdullah ibn Amr ibn al-'As, Allah's Messenger said, "He does not
belong to us who imitates other people. Do not imitate the Jews or the
Christians, for the Jews' salutation is to make a gesture with the fingers and
the Christians' salutation is to make a gesture with the palms of the hands."
(Tirmidhi transmitted it, saying its isnad is weak)
Greeting scholars, leaders and young
Firstly:
The correct way to greet scholars is to greet them with salaam and shake their
hand. Many ahadith have been narrated concerning the virtue of these actions.
It is also permissible to kiss their heads or hands sometimes, but that should
not be taken as a habit or custom, especially if it is done instead of shaking
hands.
With regard to embracing, that is permissible when someone comes from a journey
or after a long absence, or to express one's deep love for the sake of Allah
and so on.
According to a sahih narration which is reported from Abu Hurayrah (ra):
RasulAllah (saw) said: “By the One in Whose hand is my soul, you will not enter
Paradise until you believe, and you will not believe until you love one
another. Shall I not tell you something which, if you do it, you will love one
another? Spread the greeting of salaam amongst yourselves.” (Muslim)
And it was also narrated that Qatadah said: I said to Anas: Did the companions
of RasulAllah (saw) shake hands with one another? He said: Yes." (Bukhari)
In the same manner it was narrated that Anas (ra) said: "When the companions of
RasulAllah (saw) met they would shake hands with one another, and if they came
from a journey they would embrace one another." (Tabarani, al-Awsat with a
sahih chain)
It was narrated from ‘Awn ibn Abi Juhayfah that his father said: "When Ja’far
came after he had migrated to Abyssinia, RasulAllah (saw) embraced him and
kissed him between the eyes." (Tabarani, al-Kabeer)
There are many corroborating reports which were mentioned by al-Hafiz ibn Hajar
(al-Talkhees al-Habeer, 4/96).
It was narrated that Usaamah ibn Shareek said: "We stood up for RasulAllah
(saw) and kissed his hand." (Abu Bakr ibn al-Muqqari, Juz’ Taqbeel al-Yad, 58;
Al-Hafiz ibn Hajar said: Its isnaad is qawiy. Fath al-Baari, 11/56)
With regard to the kind of embracing and kissing that is makrooh, it is that
which is done by way of flattery and veneration when a person is not
travelling. The kind that is permitted is that which is done when bidding
farewell and when a person returns from a journey, and when meeting someone
after not seeing him for a long time and when there is intense love for the
sake of Allah. What is to be kissed is not the mouth but rather the hand, head
and forehead.
It is makrooh to do that when one is not travelling as far as I can see,
because one meets people frequently and not everyone deserves that. If a man
does that to some people and not to others, those whom he ignores will be upset
by that and will think that he is falling short and neglecting their rights.
The best greeting is the handshake.
It should be noted that some of the imams, such as Abu Hanifah and his
companion Muhammad, are of the view that embracing is makrooh; al-Tahhaawi
narrated this from them, which is opposite to the view of Abu Yusuf.
Imam Malik also regarded it as makrooh: Malik regarded it as makrooh to embrace
one who comes from a journey and said it is a bid’ah (innovation). He explained
the fact that RasulAllah (saw) did that to Ja’far when he came as being a
unique case. Sufyan said to him: You cannot regard it as a unique case without
evidence and Malik fell silent. Al-Qadi said: The fact that he fell silent
indicates that he accepted what Sufyan said and agreed with him. This is the
correct view, so long as there is no evidence that this is a unique case.
(al-Adaab al-Shar’iyyah 2/278)
"The shaking of hands is a good thing, but Malik considers embracing in a
greeting reprehensible. However, another jurist Ibn Uyainah says that embracing
in greeting is permissible. Again, Malik considered reprehensible the kissing
of hands as a mark of respect, besides he disbelieved the hadith narrated in
respect of it." (Qayrawani, Risala)
Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah said: With regard to bowing when meeting, it is
forbidden as it is narrated in Tirmidhi that they asked RasulAllah (saw) about
a man who meets his brother and bows to him. He said: “No, because it is not
permissible to bow or prostrate to anyone except Allah, may He be glorified.
That may have been done by way of greeting under a law other than ours, as in
the story of Yusuf – “…and they fell down before him prostrate. And he said: “O
my father! This is the interpretation of my dream aforetime!” (Yusuf 12/100).
But in our shari’ah it is not permissible to prostrate to anyone except Allah.
Indeed it is forbidden to stand as the Persians used to stand for one another –
so what about bowing and prostrating? And a slight bow (as opposed to the full
bow as in prayer) is also included in this prohibition. (Majmoo’ al-Fataawa,
1/377)
And he also said: "With regard to lowering one's head before the senior shaykhs
or kissing the ground etc, these are matters concerning which there is no
dispute among the imams that they are haraam. Indeed, simply bowing to anyone
other than Allaah is forbidden. In al-Musnad and elsewhere it is narrated that
when Mu’aadh ibn Jabal (ra) came back from Syria he prostrated to RasulAllah
(saw) and he said: “What is this, O Mu’aadh?” he said: “O RasulAllah, I saw
them in Syria prostrating to their bishops and patriarchs, and they narrated
that from their Prophets.” He said, “They are lying, O Mu’aadh. If I were to
command anyone to prostrate to anyone else I would have told the women to
prostrate to their husbands because of the greatness of their rights over them.
O Mu’aadh, do you think that if you pass by my grave you will prostrate?” He
said, “No.” He said: “Do not do that.” In conclusion, standing, sitting, bowing
and
prostrating are all due to the One God, the Creator of the heavens and the
earth. Whatever is a right only for Allah, no one else can have a share in it,
such as swearing by anyone other than Allah etc. (Majmoo’ al-Fataawa, 27/92,
93.)
It is considered a part of the Sunnah for adults to offer salaam to children in
order to teach them the proper greeting manners and to build their self esteem.
In both Al-Bukhari and Muslim, Anas (ra) narrated that the Prophet passed by
some youth and he offered salaam to them. Anas (ra) also reported that the
Prophet, used to do this quite often.
* We are going to give detailed information about prostration of Mu'adh (ra) in
the fourth chapter of the 'Beware of Ignorance -it is not an excuse' work
inshaAllah.
***
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